Surgical belt



Jan. 4, 1966 J. M. YOUNGER SURGICAL BELT Filed May 23, 1963 INVENTOR. JOV 4092601957 you/v65? United States Patent 3,227,160 SURGICAL. BELT Joy Margaret Younger, Sacramento, Calif., assignor to Mense, Incorporated,.a corporation ofCalifornia Filed May 23, 1963, Ser. No. 282,705 1''. Claim. (Cl. 128-171) The invention relates to belts which are worn for medical and sanitary reasons, and, more particularly, to belts which serve to position and hold soft and absorptive pads adjacent the anus of a patient afflicted, for example, with hemorrhoids, or one recovering from rectal surgery.

So far as is known, previous surgical or rectal belts have consisted of long strips of muslin, or comparable material, fashioned and sewed in such a manner as to enable the user to tie a belt portion around the Waist, followed by tying to the front of the belt a strip or strips depending from the back of the belt and being led forwardly and upwardly through the crotch area.

While such previous belts have long been used, they have served only moderately well to hold the absorptive pads in secure relation. In other words, even normal bodily movement tends to dislodge the protective pad when the previous cloth belts are used.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a surgical belt which securely holds a pad in proper position regardless of the users posture and body movement.

It is another object of the invention to provide a surgical belt which is not only easy to apply and remove, but which is also neat in appearance and comfortable to wear.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a surgical belt which is readily adjustable as to size.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a Y surgical belt which is sanitary and which can be easily laundered.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a generally improved surgical belt.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in the embodiment described in the following description and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective View;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view; and,

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, and-indicating, in outline, a protective pad disposed on the web.

While the surgical belt of the invention is susceptible of numerous physical embodiments, depending on the environment and requirements of use, substantial numbers of the herein shown and described embodiment have been made, tested and used, and all have performed in an entirely satisfactory manner.

The surgical belt device, generally designated by the reference numeral 12, is adapted to be worn around the mid-section of the users body, the belt being frequently used in post-operative cases where rectal surgery has been performed and which requires the use of soft, blood and liquid-absorptive pads 13 (see FIG. 3) to cover the patients anus. Exemplary of such pads is that shown and described in my co-pending US. patent application, Serial No. 204,250, filed June 21, 1962, for Sanitary Pad and now abandoned. While the pad forming the subject matter of the foregoing application is particularly described for use by women during menstrual periods, it has been found that such pad also serves in an equally satisfactory manner for use by persons having hemmorrhoids, for example, and patients recovering from rectal surgery.

Serving to support the device on the users waist is a waistband 16 of conventional elastic material approximately one inch in width. The waistband, although can be endless, is preferably provided with a suitable buckle 17 to permit accommodation to persons of all sizes. a

3,227,160 Patented Jan. 4, 1'966 A broad, or wide, elastic webbing 18, approximately two and one. half inches in width is provided at one end with a loop 19 encompassing the rear central portion of the waistband 16. The loop is formed by recurving the end 21' of the. web 18 over the band 16 and downwardly for stitching along the line 22 and along the end stitch 23.

As an important element of the invention, the wide web 18 is of an elastic material which is formed with a plurality of rows 24 of transverse shirring 25. It is the multitude of elastic undulations, on a small scale, of the shirring, that materially assists in the holding of the absorbent pad, the adjacent face of the pad preferably being of a clinging, foraminous material.

As appears most clearly in FIG. 3, the wide web extends downwardly from the loop 19, thence forwardly, so as to be located in the users crotch, thence upwardly so as to terminate at its forward end in a reinforced band 31, The fore and aft location of the band is removed somewhat, in a rearward direction, from a vertical plane tangent to the front central portion of the waistband 16. Where the device of the invention is to be worn by a male, the band at the forward end of the web terminates just short of the base of the scrotum.

The forward end of the web, or pad retaining member, is supported by a pair of elastic supporting tape members 33 depending from loops 34 encompassing the waistband on opposite sides of the front central portion of the waistband occupied by the buckle 17. Preferably, the elastic supporting members 33 are each provided with a suitable buckle 37 to permit of length adjustment in excess of that furnished by the elasticity of the material from which the supports 33 are made.

In applying the belt, a first approximation of the correct size is made and the belt is fitted onto the user. Then, additional adjustments are made to effect a snug fit. At this juncture, the absorbent pad 13 is inserted to the proper location and at the appropriate orientation. After a suitable interval, replacement of the pad may be neces sary. This can readily be accomplished by stretching the after portion of the band 16 and web 18, followed by retrieving the old pad and inserting a new one.

It can therefore be seen that I have provided a snug, compact and comfortable pad-retaining device which is positive in positioning the pad owing to the high frictional gripping relationship between the pad 13 and the face to face transverse shirring 25. The effective direction or urgency of the elastic elements, furthermore, brings maximum effort to bear on the pad at the precise location required. Thus, the surgical belt of the invention, without resorting to pins, clips, ties and other comparable expedients, of the kinds previously used, securely retains a sanitary pad and urges the pad toward the affected area with a constant, uniform pressure.

What is claimed is:

A surgical belt comprising:

(a) a waistband having a rear central portion and a front central portion;

(b) a webbing member of single thickness elastic material, for supporting an absorptive pad, said webbing member being of predetermined width and having substantially parallel side edges, the elastic material of said webbing member being formed with trans verse shirring, said transverse shirring being drawn together under the elastic action of said elastic ma terial to releasably grip the adjacent face portion of an absorptive pad therebetween, said webbing member being formed at the rear end thereof with a rear loop loosely encircling said rear central portion to permit transverse movement of said loop with re- References Cited by the Examiner spect to said waistband; UNITED STATES PATENTS (c) a pair of elastic tape front members each having at one end a front loop loosely encircling said front E central portion of said waistband at spaced apart 2881761 4/1959 er 128 284 locations to permit movement toward and away from 5 enner each other on said waistband, said elastic tape front FOREIGN PATENTS members being secured at their other ends to the 358,765 10/1931 Great Britain forward edge of said webbing member in substantial parallelism continuing said side edges of said webbing 0 RICHARD A G T Primary Examinen member. 

